Boons

+ATK: Damage is always beneficial for any character, and this rule does not exclude Halloween Henry. Hitting a little harder always help in securing kills.

+SPD: Boosting his speedcould also work in an enemy-phase centric build to prevent follow-up attacks, which could be applicable in mainly enemy phase builds. However for player-phase builds, Henry might prefer a -SPD as Bold Fighter ignores the speed requirements of follow-ups anyway.

Neutral

DEF: Since he's not melee focused as an armor unit, this is hard to justify for a boon, but Henry does sport decent amount of defense such that he could take at least 1 hit from his opponent. Forsaking his defenses could mean getting blasted off in a single hit, which might be problematic.

Banes

-RES: Thismight seems counter-intuitive as RES is one of Henry's best stats. If you are leveraging on Ploy seals, it is recommended for Henry to leave it alone. Otherwise, Henry could take a bane in it without much consequences as his default magical bulk is already more than adequate.

-HP: Losing HP instead of defenses allows for further optimization of Henry's stat distribution, as it is already one of Henry's worst stat. Do take note that his HP is actually a superboon,

This set focus on Henry's main strengths: his good investment in speed and his adequate bulk.

Henry has very good resistance and decent enough defenses to run an Owl build very well. Coupled with Spur Seals and Armour Buffs, Henry can output ridiculous amounts of power while retaining good amount of bulk to take damage. Close Counter enables Henry to service as an all-rounded enemy phase unit, while the budget option Fury functions as a pure stat steroid against ranged units. Vengeful Fighter, though expensive, helps ensure he doubles the fastest of mages and speedy tome users will find it difficult to hit him twice over the owl boosts. Henry is also guaranteed to activate Iceberg in the second counterattack due to the additional charge from Vengeful Fighter. Quick Riposte and Glimmer are obvious substitutes for Vengeful Fighter and Iceberg if one does not have Vengeful Fighter fodder to spare.

The remaining portion of the builds are not integral to Henry's build. However, a special mention goes to Atk Ploy as Henry can leverage it very well with his high resistance stat. If Henry is not used in an armored team context, he can consider running armored boots to help his mobility.

Henry does have the speed to run a set that focuses around Windsweep. As Halloween Henry prefers not to take physical damage, running Windsweep allows Henry to safely engage on those enemies and activate the panic effect. This is further augmented with speed refinements and Fury in the A slot.

The choice of seal is up to user preference. Atk Smoke has great synergy with Windsweep as Henry can activate it along with the Panic Effect. Phantom SPD is also not a bad option to increase the reliability of Windsweep.

This is a self-explanatory Raven set that focuses on countering archers and blue mages. Henry does have great magical bulk and decent physical bulk which makes him an excellent candidate for such a build.

While Triangle Adept might seem to be the most intuitive build, with Firesweep bow are becoming increasing prevalent with Cancel Affinity, it might be worthwhile to go with the Distant Defence alternatives instead. With both the sacred seal and A slot, Henry can easily survive an engagement from both archers and blue mages while charging his special for a following turn OHKO.

This is another build that can work for Henry when he is the sole armor on a team. For such situations, Armored Boots can be considered to improve his mobility.

Henry can also run a typical Blade Tome set that specifically tries to burst attackers down in a single exchange. Armor buffs are as potent as their Cavalry and Flier counterparts, making a Blade Tome based strategy viable. Henry's Armor March and the newly introduced Bold Fighter also allow Henry to be slightly more proactive in his player phase, guaranteeing doubles on most units if he initiates. Death Blow makes the most sense for a player-phase oriented build since Bold Fighter ignores Henry's SPD.

In order to utilize Henry's relative balanced defensive stats though, Close Counter with either Vantage or Quick Riposte (and Vengeful Fighter) is a good choice to switch into an enemy phase play-style, or if you want him to be a hybrid unit that works on either phase (albeit with less effectiveness in general).

Introduction

Before the release of his Halloween version, Henry was a peculiar red mage that has extraordinary physical bulk in exchange of his offenses. The seasonal variant of Henry in the Halloween season could not be any more different; while he retains his proficiency in magic, he is now a green armored mage (first of its kind) that boasts good amount of attack, speed and resistance while somewhat sacrificing his physical bulk. Halloween Henry also marks a beginning of a new era with a re-balanced base stat total that is much higher than the usual affairs.

Strengths

Armored Mage

As an armored mage, he can leverage on exclusive armor buffs. He could either choose to utilize the Hone and Fortify buffs by using a Blade Tome set, or Wards and Goads with the Owl set. These choices increases Henry's overall versatility.

Adequate general bulk

One of Henry's highlights is his very high resistance stat, allowing him to take magical hits very well. While his physical defenses aren't as impressive, it is still good enough that he could take some physical punishment.

Decent Offensive Stat Distribution

His attack is reliable enough such that he could secure the kills to do his job. While his speed will be able to double on slower enemies. His decent speed also meant that he can dodge follow-up attacks with some support from his allies.

Weaknesses

Armor Mobility & Effectiveness

At the end of the day, he is still an armored unit, and he still has the traits; 1-movement and weak against armored weapons. With the increased prevalence of anti-armor weapons, it is something that Henry might need to look out for.

Low HP

While kind of a nitpick, Halloween Henry sacrificed his HP stat to achieve his current stat distribution. This meant that he is rather prone to Panic Ploy and somewhat undermines his physical bulk.

Anti-synergy with Bold Fighter

Bold Fighter is one of the strongest skill for a player-phase focused armored unit. While Henry technically could run Bold Fighter, Henry's investment in speed is wasted as Bold Fighter ignores the speed checks for follow-ups unless the opponent runs a G Tomebreaker or Wary Fighter.

Team Options

As an armored mage, Halloween Henry shines the most when he is with armored allies and leveraging the powerful armor buffs. If he is not used in an armor team context, he might need some help in terms of mobility. While in general units can run mobility support skills such as Reposition, Guidance will probably be the most flexible option.

Armored Units: Fairly self-explanatory. Henry loves to have his armored friends surrounding him and providing him with the additional stats that he needs. It is important to cover his red weakness, so units such as Fallen Hardin, Winter Robin and Effie scores bonus synergy points.

Flier with Guidance: Helps out with his general mobility. New Year Azura could provide Henry with additional dance support, while Cordelia and Tana can erase red units on behalf of Henry. Tana also comes with Guidance as part of her base kit, which is a bonus.

Speed Support: For enemy phase builds, Henry's investment in speed truly shines when his allies provide him with even more support in speed to prevent follow-up attacks. Performing Azura and Marth with Falchion refine could provide the speed bonus that he might need, but overall any unit can fulfill this role with the help of Drives and Spurs.

Counters

Aside from the obvious anti-armor weaponry, Henry's slight shortfall in defense meant that while he can take a single non-effective hit, he will probably not survive anything more. This means that Henry can be dealt with by either baiting him into a Quick Riposte, or by just outright outspeeding him in a speed contest.

Anti-Armor: The obvious anti-armor weapons are the biggest counters for Henry. In particular, Caeda is problematic due to her high resistance and having a legendary sword that is anti-armor.

Distant Counter Sword: Henry cannot safely attack into Distant Counter Sword units, such as Zelgius, Ryoma and Ike (VL). In higher merges, most non-distant counter sword units such as Ayra and Mia also runs Distant Counter in the A slot.

Dragons: Their adaptive damage and tendency to run Quick Riposte means that he will not survive should he initiate onto a dragon. The dragon can also put a decent dent on Henry's bulk as well if they initiate first. These includes Myrrh, Fallen Robin and the Tiki(s).

User Submitted Builds

Armor Emblem nuke with SMN support, as well as ally support. With full buffs, he can nuke basically anything in the game while still being able to take some hit. Really a terrifying unit to encounter in arena. Currently merged to +5.

bond rank s with the summoner. draws out red units and reinharts. close counter for memes and because i love him. AB for wider range and gronnowl+ for further fire power. bond rank s with l! robin leads to nuke iceberg. can withstand just about anything.

This Halloween Henry is intended as a maximum coverage build and a bowbreaking specialist. Even with a -Res bane, Henry boasts a sufficient amount of Magic tanking ability, and the +Def only serves to further focus his ability to take a beating from most threats while also keeping balanced defenses to avoid many of the popular dragons from being able to nuke him.

Being a ranged unit, the armor class movement doesn’t hurt Henry nearly as much as others, so there is no need for any enhanced movement skills. Popular threats running bold fighter will struggle to put a dent in Henry, and while he’s no Male Grima, he comes with the bonus of the same attack range as Grima with Armor March and colorless coverage giving him a niche against popular bow units.